Metal on trans drain plug
 

What's a typical amount of sludge you guys get on the drain plug when changing trans oil? (sorry the pics are so big, I don't have a photo editor on this comp)
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...414a1b9d95.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...68d9da139e.jpg

Amount of fuzz doesn't look out of the ordinary.

Thanks, I'm just being paranoid I guess. :icon_tup:

That's actually pretty normal, especially if the trans hasn't been serviced in a while. Also, looks like your shifter hold down boot is torn. I would get a new one from Mallow Mazda while it is apart. Might as well do all the bushings in there too.

Be sure to grease the pivot ball and lower bushing too...before lowering it into the gear oil. I think a lot of guys miss that.

Good catch on the boot :gwink: It's basically ripped in half so I've been trying to source one in Canada along with some other parts. There is no Mazda dealership in my city. Does Ray ship to Canada do you know?

I could see why people miss it, seems like a redundant step being that it's bathed in gear oil. Thanks for the tip. The shop manual doesn't specify the type of grease, so I'm assuming a synthetic style is better than white lithium for this application.

^Yeah, not a lot of pressure and heat built up from shifting, so IMHO any bearing grease will do. IIRC, the last time I had my shifter out I used some relatively inexpensive "Red and Tacky" that I had sitting on a shelf in the shop.

I would say normal.
This is from 6-8K mile of track abuse.
Before and after photos.

sorry double post

I had over 100 drag strip passes and a fair bit of street driving on my Ranger 5.0 and there was hardly any metal (maybe 1/4 the amount) when I drained the oil last.

Man, that seems like a lot of wear, but if it's normal for these cars... :)

I am not an expert in metallurgy, but a 20-25 minutes session on a road course, changing gears many times, 4-5 sessions in a day for 2 days, beats all your 1/4 mile passes millage wise. Therefore, more miles + more use(abuse) = more wear.
So yes, you would see more tranny wear on the road course, me thinks.

I'm thinking it's the synchros that take the most beating on a road course. The violent launches and hard gear shifts are what beat up a trans on the strip, but I think it's mostly gear wear. Ie: shouldn't be much visible wear as long as you don't shear a tooth off :lol:

I also had ~15k street kms on that oil, and wasn't nice to it back then , so might be an element of different tranny's having different wear characteristics too :nod: